The Third Parent
by alleycatabra
Summary: Harry has more than the usual number of parents. He also has more than the usual number of worries and angst. What will happen... Don't own any of this, and not making money.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer; I do not own harry potter or anything related to Harry potter nad i am not making money off of harry potter. But i do own a crumplehorned snorckack named alvin... Or am i crazy?

The Third Parent

It was a week into the yearly imprisonment and torture that Harry laughingly called summer vacation. His aunt and uncle weren't horrible to him and his cousin Dudley hadn't raised a finger to hurt him since he got to privet drive. Of course that probably had more to do with the fact that Harry had been locked in his room the second that they got there. At least they let him have his stuff and allowed him to let Hedwig fly around. They fed him, most of the time. He could always look forwards to one exquisite meal of cold canned soup a day, two if he was lucky and his aunt was generous. So far he had had seven smallish bowls of soup and seven half full glasses of water. Not that he complained he was too depressed to complain. Every night he could see his godfather fall through the curtain. In most of these dreams he was the one holding the wand that killed him. Every single god dammed night he heard that horrible laugh. Now in his dreams he was seeing Sirius alive and well complaining of a pain in his chest before Harry pushed him into the curtain.

Harry was brought out of his musings by a tapping on his window. He was surprised that Hedwig had come back so soon. He wouldn't complain though. As Harry got up to let the owl in he saw that it wasn't Hedwig. It was a rather largish raven or a crow perhaps. He could never tell the difference. Harry let it in and the bird gave him a letter and then flew away. Harry opened it, he didn't care if it was jinxed or not.

To my child Harry James Potter.

If you receive this letter then the first thing it will mean is that both your mother and I are dead. The second thing it means is that the charms and wards we used to conceal your parentage will begin to fail in approximately one day. We tried to extend them to last as close to your sixteenth birthday as possible but they will most probably fail before then. The third thing it means is that you are most probably confused and require a good explanation. Your mother and I loved each other dearly and we wanted a child but the Healers said that our genes weren't compatible. In this instance what normally would have happened in the muggle world is we would have gone to a fertility clinic and gotten a donor sperm to do the job, but we wanted to do a more magical approach to things. We chose the triplicity charm, or the third parent charm. This is where the two parents find a third party whose genes are compatible with both of the other two parents. This person then knocks up the hopeful father by using a male pregnancy potion and the resulting fetus is then moved to the mother's womb where it incorporates one of her eggs. So in effect the child has three parents. Normally the third parent would be involved in the offspring's life but given the nature of what this individual did, a.k.a. spying, we felt that it wouldn't be safe for either of you to have you know about each other. So I guess it's time for the big reveal, best sit down for this. Your third parent and father is Severus Snape. I found out his genes were compatible by accident. Your third parent was supposed to have been Sirius but he got squicked out when I approached him about it in a pub. I thought he wouldn't turn this opportunity down but… Anyhow I was depressed and drunk. The next day I wake up in Severus' bed naked, hung over and pregnant. And yes I am positive that he's your father as he was naked and hung over as well. That plus we did a paternity test on you when you were born. I don't know if you know him but odds are if he's teaching, like he has been threatening to do at the time of this letter, then you most likely know him as the only person who would hire him and the headmaster for the place that we have picked for your education are one and the same. If you do know him and hate him, as I suspect that you might given what he's capable of when he hates someone like oh say me, please understand that I deserve his anger for some of the things that I have done to him. I just hope that when he finds out that you are his child he will treat you better. I will always love you.

James T. Potter, your loving father/mother

Harry looked at the letter in his hand and then out the window. He crumpled it up and threw it in the wastebasket.

"I don't need this bullshit." Harry lay down on his bed and tried to forget everything that he had read that night.

Harry's life was normal until the next day at around that time when he got the letter the day before. He felt a tingling sensation that started in the area of his stomach and spread outwards. He felt as if his entire world had gone wacky. He could feel his limbs stretch and lengthen and he felt as if he were made out of wax and were being reshaped by a sadistic three year old. When it was all done he went to the full-length mirror that he had solely because Dudley had gotten angry at it when he saw that he had put on some weight earlier this summer. Surprisingly little had changed. But it was obvious enough that anyone who glanced at him would notice. His hair was no longer unruly; it was completely straight and darker than it was before. Harry looked at his nose and was thankful that it wasn't Snape; it was his mother's. His lips were also different; they were his mother's now. His eyes were still the same bright green they had always been. And his face was still shaped the same, except that his cheeks were now more like Snapes than his mothers. His complexion had also changed, he used to be very pale but now he was pinker. He looked down, his limbs were longer and he was taller. His hands had long precise fingers and he was certain that if he wanted he could brew a wolfs bane potion himself.

"Where the hell'd that idea come from? As if I don't have enough in my life already I have to put up with this now too. Fuck. I'm going to bed and when I wake up I had better be myself again."

Professor Severus Snape was working in his lab on wolfs bane potion, as their new teacher happened to be Lupin. Severus could claim to hate him all that he wanted but at least he wasn't as bad as some of the other teachers that they had. He was at a tricky place when a large raven came in. Snape didn't like Ravens as much as crows but he still preferred them to owls. Snape ignored the bird until he was finished and could spare some time for the bird. He took the letter and watched as the bird flew off.

He carefully checked it for jinxes and the other such stuff then opened it.

To Severus Snape

I am writing you because there is something very important that I must tell you. You of course know by now that James and I had a son but I must tell you that he is as much your son. The wards and charms used to protect his parentage will have failed by now and I must tell you that he is the result of the third parent charm. You most likely will know how this is possible and remember when you got James pregnant. I thought I should let you know that it was not our intention to have you as a third parent, it was supposed to have been Sirius. But he backed out. That is how you got to be Harry's other parent. Please, I know that you aren't horrible so please look after him. You remember what I told you about my sister, you can bet that she would have married someone like her, and if Harry is stuck with them he will not be treated decently. Please take care of him.

Sincerely 

Lily R. Potter

Snape snorted at the thought that he was a parent.

"Fuck me, when will I learn to not think with my ass."

3


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer; I don't Own Harry Potter or anything affiliated with Harry Potter, But i do own a gopher named norman

The third parent, chapter one

It was a beautiful morning at number four-privet drive and two weeks into summer vacation; pity Harry was locked in his room. Harry sat at his small desk looking outside through little holes in the wooden barrier and feeling his stomach growl, as he hadn't got any food for the last three days. Apparently it had something to do with the food bank for needy children and his aunt and uncle not finding a suitable replacement meal for him. It would be another couple of weeks before they went for groceries again so he had to make it with what he could scrounge up. This was hardly a good thing as for the last several weeks of his last term at school he had been in so much grief that he hardly ate anything at all. He would have requested his friends to send him food, but Vernon insisted that the post that was sent with Hedwig go through him first before she went outside. So he had boarded Harry's window shut and had made a hole in the door, only big enough for Hedwig to go through.Itwas exactly at Dudley's eye level and he had decided that he rather enjoyed watching Harry as he attempted to go to the bathroom in the large pail that he had been given.

Harry would have reported the recent developments in the Dursleys abuse, except that the few times he had done this, Vernon confiscated the letters, and wrote new ones on Harry's behalf. Harry was trapped, with no way out and no one to turn to. He was going to die in this dingy little hellhole and no one would ever notice.

Harry decided to go to bed early that night, sure it was only 3:00 in the afternoon but there was nothing else to do. He hadn't had enough to eat to have any waste to pass even if he wanted. The homework they got to do over the summer was done; it seemed he had done it ages ago. He had nothing to do except to go into his nightmares. Harry wondered what would happen, if he just fell asleep and never woke up. He would die eventually, but would it be painful? Harry didn't think that it would be painful, aside from the hunger; it would most likely be peaceful, a calm passing into death.

"Since when do I give up so quickly?"

_"Does it matter? We're going to die and no matter what we do we can't stop it. Now by starvation or suicide or later by Voldemort, we're dead. Why fight it?"_

"I suppose… No, I have to do something."

"_What are we going to do? Throw our excrements at the door? We're dead. Get it over with." _

"No, I have – friends they'll help me."

_"How, they don't even know we need it. They wouldn't even care if they knew. They would just as soon run if they knew about our prophecy."_

"No! They wouldn't… I don't think they would."

_"But we're not sure, are we? How can we be when they don't even know us, what we are, what we will be. Admit it, they don't care."_

"…"

_"We should kill ourselves now, before we can harm someone - or somebody else dies because of us. Look how many have already, you are a monster."_

"No. I didn't mean-it wasn't my- I didn't want any of it."

_"James Potter, our father. He's dead because of us. Lily Potter, our mother, she died because of us. Cedric Diggory, if it weren't for us he'd be alive. And Cho would be happy. And don't let us forget Sirius Black, our godfather, it's our fault that he's dead. We have to stop this, we have to die."_

"How?"

"_Didn't Dudley have an x-acto knife, one that he got bored with?"_

"Yes"

_"It's probably in here somewhere, it's not hygienic but that's not going to matter in the long run now, is it?"_

"No, I suppose not." Harry began his search through Dudley's old things for the means to end his life.

Harry didn't know it but Dudley was standing at his door the whole time. He saw the whole thing. It was bizarre, like what he saw in that lord of the rings movie. It was like someone had replaced his cousin's mind with Gollum's. Harry's entire bearing would change between speakers, not just his posture but also his voice. He had never heard Harry speak so coldly and horribly to anyone, not even when they deserved it. That was when it hit Dudley. Harry was a human too, a freak of a human but still human. He had his limits, he could reach them and if pushed over he would snap. They had reached those limits with his life of abuse and apparently something had happened that made him snap. He didn't want to but he had to stop it.

It was only out of a sense of obligation that he decided to help Harry. If it hadn't been for his cousin he'd have had his soul sucked out. Harry had said as much the night that those Dementy-whasits had come along. He hadn't seen them but he had heard their breathing and had felt the cold. He had remembered the most horrible memories that he. Harry attracting the girl that he had wanted in elementary school was the worst one. Dudley had tried to talk some sense into her but she had called him an overweight bullying moron that had no clue about the real world. It had hurt. It cut him really deep. Even when his gang had gotten together and had frightened her so bad that she never looked at Harry again it still stung. There were other ones but that had had the most impact on him. It hurt the most to think about because a part of him knew that what that girl had said was true. He would never admit it but it was. And it was just one more reason to hate his skinny, ugly, nearsighted freak of a cousin. But despite that he knew that Harry would never lie about something like that. Sure he could say that he could do magic outside of school, but he never would. He could threaten to turn him into a cockroach but he wouldn't. But for him to unflinchingly tell him that he would have had his soul sucked out did not seem like something he would either do or threaten to do unless he had been in very real danger of it happening. His parents could tell him that Harry was a freak and was not fit for a nice normal boy like him to be around, and Dudley would agree, but he owed Harry his life. He would repay Harry in kind.

He had to wait for Hedwig, that owl of his, and get her to deliver a letter. Who was Harry's Headmaster? Dumbledore wasn't it? Dudley was certain he got it right. That was what Harry had called him when he had mentioned him in one of his latest speeches with himself. He went to his room and wrote a letter he hoped his dad would never discover. He wrote it quickly and then he stood outside Harry's door.

The Ex-acto knife that Harry was looking for was in there in a locked box. He didn't think that Harry would find it. He waited for the owl to come swooping towards Harry's room, which she did a half hour later. Dudley intercepted her and she promptly began pecking at him.

"Will you calm down you blasted bird. I'm trying to help Harry." Dudley whispered angrily at Hedwig, then took the bird into his room and shut the door. He tied the letter around her leg, like he'd seen when Harry got a letter.

"Take this to Dumbledore, hurry. Don't stop for anything."he watched as the bird flew out of sight. He then decided to stand guard over Harry after supper until help came. He didn't want his cousin to die. It wasn't like he cared about his cousin or anything. Hadn't his parents told him often enough that Harry was a freak and was responsible for all of the freaky and horrible things that had happened in his life? Like getting kicked off the football team in elementary school when he was six. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't run fast enough to get the ball. He had no choice but to trip Harry when he was running past. It was Harry's fault that his bones were as fragile as to break through the skin. His one consolation was that his parents had insisted on removing Harry from the team as well. He had only been there because his parents didn't want him to be home alone while Dudley had been at a match; unfortunately the coach had seen him tooling around with one of the practice balls during team break and had insisted on adding him. No, it was hardly out of familial love for the useless freak that he was going to help him. He had a duty to do so. It wasn't one that he wanted but he had no choice. Harry had had the grace to save Dudley after all.

Harry looked all over the place, he threw most of Dudley's old things to the side, but he did not seem to be getting any closer to finding the knife. He finally found a small locked box. Harry picked it up. Of course, Dudley kept all of his knife collection in a box. Harry looked at the lock. It was a combination one. It would take him forever to crack it. Harry felt angry, there was literally nothing else to use.

"_What's our problem; we're a wizard aren't we?"_

"Yes, but-"

_"But what? All we need is one fucking piece of wood, a quick alohamora, and we'll be able to relieve everyone of our burdensome existence."_

"But I'll be expelled."

_"So? If we do this that won't matter, will it? Nothing will matter. We'll finally have some peace and quiet without them nosing about our lives. Don't you want that for us ?"_

"Yeah, I would like that, No one trying to hurt me anymore. But won't it hurt Ron and Hermione?"

_"For a little while, yes, but they'll get over it. They always did in the past, why shouldn't they now? Now stop being a dammed pussy and get our fucking wand."_

"Okay, hold on a moment."

_"Hurry. We need this. There is no other way out of this for us."_

"Got It."

_"Good. Hurry, open the box."_

"Alohamora!"

Harry looked into the box. There were all kinds of knives there. A hunting knife, except that it's edge was dull. A nice sharp survival knife caught his eye though, _"Yes that one will do the job, won't it?"_

Harry slid the knife out of its sheath and looked at it. It was sharp and looked as if it was brand new. Harry remembered the day Dudley got it. It had been Christmas and Dudley had spent the entire day whining that Piers Polkiss had gotten a survival knife for Christmas. The next day Vernon had bought one for him. Dudley showed it off to Piers but then he had locked it in the box and had forgotten about it, "It's perfect."

"_Come on, let's get undressed then."_

"Why?"

_"We don't want to be discovered in those rags do we?"_

"No, I guess not. But I don't want to be in my school clothes or that Yule ball robe either."

_"Why not?"_

"Well when a person dies they lose control of their bowls and bladder and I don't want to soil anything just incase there's anything left in me."

_"Okay then. I suppose that that leaves us with only our birthday suit."_

"Pity that it's not in better shape." Harry undressed quickly and sat down on his bed. He looked at his lower body. He looked like a skeleton. He had practically no muscles left and absolutely no fat on his bones. He'd never had fat of any kind, not even puppy fat. He looked down at himself. That was something he'd always regret not doing. In all of his life he had not so much as touched himself except to clean there. He might as well have been a monk, or a eunuch.

_"What are we waiting for? We might as well, we're going to die soon, might as well be with a smile."_

"Really?"

_"Sure. You have your bit of fun while I finish us off."_

"Okay, thanks."

_"Don't mention it."_ Harry's left hand lowered itself down between his legs as the other one grasped the knife handle. When he touched himself he felt an electric thrill pass through him. He wished that he had done this sooner.

Dudley went upstairs to Harry's room. His mom and dad were in the living room watching the news. Normally he'd be watching a movie or some other program but tonight he was going to keep an eye on Harry and make sure that he didn't hurt himself.

Just outside the door he stopped because he heard Harry moaning. He knew what that kind of moan meant and really didn't want to see Harry pulling his pork. He had no idea that Harry was capable of that. He didn't think that Harry had so much as thought about doing something like that in all the years that he had known him. He stood there torn between keeping an eye on Harry and leaving Harry alone for a while when Harry let out a thin high-pitched sounding groan. Dudley knew that that meant that the festivities were over. He was just going to give him some time to get cleaned up when he heard him talking to himself again, "What are you doing?"

_"You had your fun, now it's time for me to have mine_."

"What do you mean?"

_"You'll see."_

"No, don't do that. Stop it. Stop it! Oh god, please stop it!" Harry screamed loudly and Dudley rushed into the room to find him lying naked on the bed with some sort of survival knife in his hand. He was cutting at his tip. He was trying to saw it off, but he appeared to be doing it ineffectively on purpose. Harry screamed again. Dudley was shaken out of his stupor just long enough to yank the knife out of Harry's bloodied hand and throw it to the other side of the room. Harry got up and made to run for the knife but Dudley picked him up and threw him onto the bed, that was when his dad came charging up the stairs like a ticked off rhino.

"That does it! We were watching the news and then we get interrupted with this. He interrupted you too Dudders? Hold him still then, I'm going to punish him so that he won't forget it." Vernon grabbed the knife and began advancing on Harry. Dudley did the only thing that that he could; he placed himself firmly between Harry and his dad.

"Move Dudley, I can't punish him if you're in the way."

"I won't let you hurt him. He needs help dad, he's insane and he's trying to kill himself. Please just leave him alone."

"So let him. I don't want to see that freak ever again. He's enough of a nuisance just breathing."

Dudley felt himself go cold. His dad did not care that Harry was not sane anymore. He cared more for the dammed TV. Dudley threw his dad into the hallway and then barricaded the door with all of the furniture in the room. He then threw the knives into the hall followed shortly by the contents of the large metal bucket.

"So you think you'll protect him boy, well how long do you think you can wait to eat again?"

"Long enough for help to get here."

"How do you propose to get them to know about this? That pigeon has to go through me first."

"I already sent them a letter telling them everything that you've done to him. They'll be here soon enough."

Dudley heard a strangled howl of rage from his father. He yelled all the way down to the living room to Dudley's mother, "Get your stuff packed Petunia, we're moving out and we'll not be seeing either of the boy's again."

"But Vernon."

"No buts get packed."

Dudley listened as they left and he felt cold inside. What had he done? He was not going to see his mom and dad again because he chose to protect his cousin. Speaking of him, he was curled up on the bed muttering to himself again.

_"Did we cut our self deep enough do you think?"_

"I don't know I'm bleeding like mad though."

_"Enough to die do you think?"_

"I don't know I hope so."

Dudley sighed as he went through his things to find his first aid kit. He never thought that he would use it, least of all for that freak of a cousin of his.

It was a week after he had gotten Lily's letter that Severus decided to do something for his 'son' Harry. He had thought about it for a while but had not found the need to actually do anything. Eventually, though he found that he could not deny Lily her last request, so he decided to take it up with the Headmaster. He wasn't certain exactly what he would do or say when he got there that wouldn't give his real motives away. He knew that Dumbledore, for all intents and purposes, was a good person. But Severus knew that the knowledge that Harry was his favorite spy's son would be too much of a tempting bargaining chip for the old man. He may not regularly kill and torture his followers but in his own way he was even more ruthless than Voldemort. Severus stepped into the Headmasters office and waited for him to acknowledge his presence when a large snowy owl flew into the room. It was Potter's; Severus had seen the boy with that owl before. Well at least the problem of bringing up Harry was solved, "So what has the boy written this time? That all is splendid in the land of the muggles?"

"Actually Severus, it is from his cousin telling us that Harry has gone insane and might attempt suicide."

"Really? In that case I volunteer to remove him from those muggles."

"Why would that be Severus?"

"I can't help but feel as though I might have misjudged him over the years and I would like to make it up to him. Try to start over again."

"I'm sure you would, but there are others who are more adept at handling muggles."

"That may be but there are none who are quite so effective at instilling the feeling of abject terror with only a few well placed words. It's my specialty after all."

"Anyone can scare a muggle, it is remarkably easy."

"I did not say scare, I said terrify. And I consider it a very skillful art form that few are capable of."

"Very well then Severus. You may go and rescue the boy. Just be careful, he is not predictable at the moment."

"Thank you Albus. I will be taking him to my home, the one in the Alps. It is safer there than Grimmauld place. If the Weasleys and Granger wish to join us there I will be sending my bird in a few weeks."

"Of course Severus. Good Luck."

With that Severus turned and left. He couldn't help but notice the disturbingly familiar twinkle in the old mans eyes before he left. Dumbledore was up to something and that something was almost never good

Special Thanks to my beta Jezziez:)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer; I don't own harry Potter nor am i making money off this... I do own a cat named McAllitster though

The Third Parent; Chapter 2

It had been at least a day since Dudley had sent for help. He had managed somehow to disinfect and dress Harry's self inflicted injury but he couldn't make himself stitch it up. It would have to wait for a doctor or whatever the freak wizard equivalent was for that to be done. He made sure that Harry was close by at all times as he still had yet to regain any semblance of sanity. He hadn't injured himself any further but that was not for lack of trying. In the last day he had tried to jump off the roof (Dudley still wasn't certain how he had gotten up there), drown himself in a tub, and fry himself in the oven and any other manner of suicide that was possible. He had even tried to hang himself with on of his father's ties. It was all Dudley could do to keep him from offing himself every chance he got. He even took his wand away. If Dudley had learned one thing about Harry over the years it was that he could run fast. It only took the last day for him to add determined to that list as well. It took everything he had to force his skinny and seemingly weak cousin into a nice bottle green outfit. He thought that maybe they were called robes.

It was around noon when a loud knock interrupted his thoughts about the forthcoming school year and what he would do without his mum and dad to pay for his things. He tried to get Harry to stand and walk willingly but he wound up dragging him over to the door anyway. He somehow managed to hold onto Harry as he made a run for the door that Dudley had opened. The first thing that Dudley thought was that Halloween had come early and an adult dressed up as a vampire was standing on the doorstep.

"Who are you?"

"I would be Professor Severus Snape, Mr. Potter's potions teacher. That would make you Dudley Dursley, the only person in this household who finally chose to give a rat's ass about him. So tell me where your mom and dad are?"

"They've left; I don't think that they'll be coming back."

"They abandoned you? Why?"

"Because I protected Harry from them, it might not have helped that I also sent a letter to Dumbledore."

"Indeed. And that skinny lump in the green robes who is currently talking to himself must be Mr. Potter. Correct?"

"Yes, he is." Dudley was beginning to really not like this man. What was he thinking? He should have gotten help from that red haired family. They seemed to like Harry.

"Very well, I'll need to pack his stuff. His room is at the top of the stairs?"

"Yes, it has a deadbolt and a large hole in the door."

Dudley watched as the man left. He really didn't trust him but what else could he do? He sat down and held his cousin closer to him to keep him from running off. He ignored his mumbling, it never meant anything these days.

Professor Snape had just managed to walk around a large mess of human waste when he sawHarry's Cousin Dudleyholding him. Normally he would have laughed his ass off at the remarkably banal sentiments that he was displaying. But he thought better of it. No, if he was going to be looking after that useless lump despite his better judgment he was going to need someone to help him. It might just as well be that cousin of his as anyone else. He quickly packed Harry's things, retrieved the letter that Harry had gotten from his 'father', and then went to Dudley's room and shrank everything that he owned, and there was a lot of it, and put it in his largest suitcase. It was rather large, thankfully, and held everything quite well. He didn't bother with the broken things in the other room, but he did notice the knives on the hallway's floor so he included them. He briskly walked back downstairs, with everything properly shrunk and in his pockets, and stopped in front of Dudley.

"Well, come on then, time to leave." Dudley stared at him with his little piggy eyes before he blurted out, "You mean I'm coming too?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact you are. I already have your stuff packed as well as Harry's."

"Really? Where is it?"

"I shrunk all of it and put it in my pocket. I didn't bother with the broken things; we'll just let your parents deal with them when they get back. Come on, no reason to stay and gawk is there." With that he turned his back and led the way out the door. He didn't bother to check that the boy was following with Harry in his arms. He knew he would be.

Dudley followed the man; he had given up trying to drag Harry and instead chose to carry him. It was rather difficult, but not because of the weight, because Harry just would not stop struggling. Dudley had never noticed how wiry Harry was before. Even weakened with starvation he was still nearly impossible to hold onto. The tall man led them to a coach that looked like it had come straight out of the Victorian era. It was large, stately and made out of rosewood. Dudley followed him into it. As soon as Dudley sat down he felt the coach start to move, only it felt as if it was flying, not rolling along on pavement. Dudley looked out the window and saw the clouds pass by.

"We're flying!" He immediately regretted stating the obvious as the Professor sneered at him.

"Very observant, obviously Harry's skill at observation has been honed over the years to a very dull edge from being forced to co-habitat with a group of ignoramus since he was a child." Dudley flushed with embarrassment. They sat in awkward silence a moment before the man spoke up again.

"Sorry about that, I am generally not very good at relating to people. I occasionally forget that what I find everyday and obvious is usually out of the ordinary for people who happen to be muggles." Dudley did not know what to say at first. This man didn't strike him as the kind who usually apologized for anything.

"Erm- well that's all right I suppose. No point in getting hung up on the past."

They sat in silence for the next couple of hours.

Severus Snape was astonished at how easily the muggle recovered from his spiteful yet wholly honest comment. The boy had forgiven him almost immediately and all it took was some hackneyed clichéd apology with a sincere voice. He was thankful that Harry, at least, managed to retain a healthy suspicion of most people. He really was going to have to work on him, though, now that he was his 'son'. It would not do to allow him to be too trusting or ignorant. Speaking of him, he was currently curled up on the floor in a ball muttering. He really did not know how this boy could have gone insane so precisely when he had just lost the protection charms. The legendary insanity that his family seemed to be plagued with had ended well over a thousand years ago. It turned out to be a rather nasty practical joke that the perpetrator had not managed to remove before he ungraciously died. Of course it was only poetic justice that he had died at the hands of the first Snape to be cursed with the insanity. It wore off over time and now his family was perfectly sane. Not counting his father, but it really wasn't so much a case of insanity as it was of him being a git. No insanity could account for him so enjoying the prospect of causing pain of the physical nature to his family.

"So, Harry tried to kill himself?"

"Huh? Yes, he actually did cut himself very badly. I can't stitch him there though."

"Where?"

"You know, there." The boy indicated with his hesitancy that it was his privates he was referring to. Snape turned the boy over and tried to examine him but he kept himself curled up. Finally he enlisted the muggle boys help to keep him still. The boy held Harry down by the shoulders as Severus examined the wound. It was disinfected, clearly the muggle had some experience with first aid, and it required healing. It would be a simple matter for him. He knew every kind of healing charm by heart and its effects as well as the best ones for wounds from knives or wounds in a sensitive area. He felt it prudent to know these as his line of work frequently lead to the need of one or several more of them. He of course meant teaching potions as if he were injured in his other line of work odds were that he would be dead before he could get a chance to use them. He used the most appropriate one for Harry's self-inflicted wound and allowed the boy to curl up into a ball again. He sat and stared out the window as they rode in silence. He had a son. His son was nearly 16 years old. His son hated him. He hated his son.

Oh yes, he knew that Harry was his son. He vividly recalled the morning after his one night stand with James. He had woken up feeling blurry from the effects of the alcohol, but he felt immensely satisfied nonetheless. It was the kind of satisfaction that you could only get after a wild night of sex. He woke up and the first thing he had noticed was his utter lack of clothing. He felt pleased as that meant that he had engaged in some kind of debauchery, and that really was his favorite kind of activity. He had rolled over to drape an arm around his 'lover' and had noticed that it was a man. He didn't mind. He actually enjoyed his own gender as much as the other gender when it came to matters of a sexual nature. He was an equal opportunity slut after all. He had gotten as close to this random stranger as physics would allow, and had buried his face in the back of the mans head. He enjoyed his smell, like dirt and earth and spice. It really was an arousing scent. He had started to grab at the man's body when he had woken up. Severus didn't mind at first because that most likely meant that he would have someone to play with. Then the man had started to swear a blue streak. Severus didn't mind he quite often used profanity himself in the bedroom. Of course when the man got up and turned around anything remotely like arousal fled Severus' mind. He had had sex with James Potter, the bullying git that had made his life hell. He stared at Severus; Severus stared at him. Then the yelling had started.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

"Me? What about you? I live here!"

"Jesus crapping god! Please don't tell me that we had sex!"

"Yes, unfortunately we did, now if you'll please leave I have to burn everything in this room, expholiate every square inch of my body that came into contact with yours, and seriously consider how best to shave off my body hair without nicking anything sensitive."

"Oh god no! What the hell are we going to do? This was not supposed to happen. It was supposed to be Sirius, not you."

"What the hell are you prattling on about? Don't tell me that Lily condones you being on the sly with your pal."

"Well she kind of has to as we are attempting to have a child via the third parent charm."

"… Shit…"

"My thoughts exactly. God I hope that this hasn't resulted into anything developing. I don't know if I could kill it if it has."

Snape had fled to the bathroom after that and had stayed there until he heard James leave. He didn't hear from the man again until two weeks later a letter arrived telling him that he did not have to worry about having a son.

So it turned out that they had leaded him on with false information and that he did indeed have a child. The possibility had occurred to him several times throughout the years. Especially when it turned out that Harry was good at defense against the dark arts. He definitely didn't get it from James; Lily while good was not a genius at it. So in his mind Severus convinced himself that it was from Black's side, after all hadn't James told him that Black was supposed to have been the whelp's father? Black's family was legendary in the dark arts. It was also easier to tell himself that it was Black's child, not his, since he couldn't see any trace of his family in the child, and Snape had been jealous; he had wanted to have a child. One that was good at the dark arts as well as being popular and good at quidditch. He did however want one that had the run of Slytherin house, not god bloody Gryffindor. But Harry wasn't a Black; he was a Snape. Apparently James couldn't kill the embryo, as he should have since its other father was an unwanted quantity. He had constantly squashed the tiny little voice in his head that had been telling him that Harry was his. It had been easy in the first year. Everything that he couldn't explain away as either James or Lily had to be Black. Over the years it had become more difficult to convince himself that Harry was Black's child. He could say that Harry's tendency to have words with anyone who raised his ire was from James but he knew that James wasn't likely to do anything like that, nor was Black. They were more the hex now and hex later then hex again for good measure types. Although he had reasoned that it could be from some other relative. He didn't know the Blacks or the Potters that well as his own personal family had been at the lowest possible rung on the wealthy and powerful family of Snape. That is until everyone else had all been wiped out after one of his upper class cousins caught a very contagious muggle disease called Ebola and had brought it to the family gathering that Severus' family had not been invited to. Apparently it was easy enough to cure with potions but since they thought it beneath them to do anything but sit around and live off of old money they didn't stand a chance. So all he knew about the other families he got by watching. But now he was faced with proof of fatherhood that couldn't be ignored. He had the letter from Lily and James as well as his memories of the day after his last drunken one night stand. Then there was the fact that he had been informed of the successful completion of the charm one day after he had been told that the pregnancy had been aborted. So instead of being two weeks premature like everyone had assumed he was, Harry had actually arrived right on schedule, a trait that his family normally had. Apparently it skipped a generation. Severus would of course have a paternity test once they got to his home; he always had to be sure.

Dudley stared at the wizarding freak that sat across from him in the carriage. He appeared to be deep in thought. Dudley was just concerned because he was hungry; he needed to have something to eat. He briefly wondered what fast food was in the freak world of his cousins. Did they serve deep fried frogs, or just ordinary fries? At this point he didn't care. The Weirdo that Harry's headmaster had sent had healed Harry and that was all that concerned him. Maybe he could persuade him to drop him off at Piers? Then he could wipe his hands of this mess and hopefully make it up to mom and dad in time for school. That seemed like a good idea.

"Ahem." Dudley cleared his throat loud enough to startle the man opposite him, "If it wouldn't be too much trouble could you please drop me off at a friend's house? I really need to get back in touch with my mum and dad."

The man stared at him for a moment and then said in a rather caustic voice "I will do no such thing. Your cousin needs help and I need someone to keep an eye on him. I would have gotten your parents to do this instead as the loathsome curs did the most damage, but since they are not around and I have no intention of wasting my time looking for them you'll have to do. As I understand it you did quite a bit of damage yourself. Now you would do well to sit down and shut up for the rest of the journey."

This took Dudley for surprise. This was possibly the first time that anyone had refused to let him do what he wanted. He stood up in indignation and swelled up like he had seen his father do on many occasions.

"How dare you order me around you freak! I went out of my way to help that abnormality and instead of being praised for that selfless act I get bullied around by an overgrown greasy bat like you! I don't deserve this! I demand that you stop this carriage at once and let me out or I will beat you within an inch of your life! I have won the heavyweight championship at my school for the last two years in a row!"

The man gave a very sarcastic laugh then brought his face within an inch of Dudley's.

"Oh do go right ahead you simpering simpleminded fool." The mans voice became deadly quiet "I dare you to try and lay a hand on me. I'll have you dangling outside the window in no time. This was not an altruistic act as you have indicated. No, you did this out of obligation because Harry saved your life. I know; I heard about it all last year from Dumbledore. And if you think that this one pitiful act is going to wipe your slate clean from all of the abuse you chose to visit on your cousin then you are strongly deluded." The man's grin faded into an evil smirk "Go ahead and try to follow through on your threat, unless you're too chicken."

Dudley backed away from the professor and sat down quietly. The wizard sat down with a self-satisfied smirk. "There you go; you are capable of making an intelligent choice when necessary. Now I would advise you to stay put and not open that pie trap of yours again lest you rouse my anger, understood?"

For once in his life Dudley felt it wise to do as a wizard told him to and kept quiet until they touched down.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer; I don't own harry potter and i'm not making money off him.

The Third Parent; Chapter Three

It was nearly nightfall by the time that they arrived at his house in the Alps. It was really large enough to be considered a small castle but it had been referred to as the manor for so long that no other name suited it. It was of course unplottable and it also helped that no one aside from himself knew how to find it. And the only other one that even knew that it existed was Dumbledore. Then there were the wards and such. For instance if he did not want a person to enter they would never be able to find it. And if the manor were to come under attack the house would become animate and defend itself with magic, those gargoyles with arrows on the roof were not merely decoration. Every statue in the grounds would come to life and do his bidding. And there were numerous other kinds of wards. Most had been forgotten over the years as they had been added centuries ago. And there was of course blood protection (the kind of protection that had bound his 'son' to live with those _people_ for almost his entire young and miserable life. He would have it here too, without the abuse. Not much love though; he still looked far too much like James in his opinion.) And there was the added feature that the house and everything in it would protect Harry and would obey him as if he were the master if the enemy were too close to him. Severus led the way to the front entrance.

" Do be careful with your cousin, boy, you wouldn't want to accidentally decapitate him."

The muggle said something that sounded suspiciously like ' I wouldn't care if he were to explode into flame and get turned into dust.' Severus chose to ignore it. He led the way to the kitchens where he found Matron the head elf for the manor. No sooner had they arrived though than the muggle _idiot _dropped his cousin onto the floor and made a beeline for the pantry.

"_Boy!_ Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm getting something to eat. I haven't eaten since lunch." The large boy whined.

"You're hungry are you? I wonder how hungry you'll be after a week without meals?" Severus allowed his voice to sound menacing as he approached the muggle. "Pick up your cousin and carry him to his room. And don't let me catch you with anything even remotely resembling a frown. You'll have your meal _if_ I say you can. Now move."

The boy looked as though he were seriously considering arguing but thought better of it. Without a word he picked up his cousin and waited for Severus to give him instructions.

"Matron."

"Yes master Snape." Came a voice by the stove. Leaning over he saw matron just by the table tending to the roast. She was large by elf standards and had an air of dignity and authority about her, hence the name Matron.

"I want you to assign your regular chores to another elf, I need you to help me look after a child who has apparently lost his sanity. The boy's cousin is here to assist you; you are not to wait on him. Please lead them to the room just off the master room. When it is time for the muggle boy to go to bed you will take him to the servant quarters. I will have an elf bring food to you and your charge. It is questionable if I will be charitable enough to give any to the other boy." With a wave of his hand he excused them and as an after thought he called out after them "If you have any difficulties with the muggle don't hesitate to call me."

Dudley was fuming by the time that they arrived at the room where Harry would be staying. To say that Dudley was unhappy wouldn't be exactly right; he was insanely jealous of his cousin. He knew that his room would be nothing like this. Dudley could not allow this freak to have anything better than him, and he wouldn't, after a tantrum. They had always worked on his parents. It would work on this wizarding freak as well. Dudley threw Harry down on the floor roughly and stalked over to the bed. He sat down on the bed and glared at the strange creature called Matron.

"Pick up your cousin child and I will not report your misbehavior to the master."

"You pick him up. It's not my job to look after that little freak." He crawled under the covers and stretched out full length on the bed.

"I am warning you to get out of that bed now young sir, you will not like the consequences if you don't."

"It's my bed now, you can put the freak in the room that the bigger freak wanted to put me in."

"Very well, if that is how you're going to be." Dudley heard a loud pop and breathed a sigh of contentment. He thought it would be more difficult to convince the freaks to let him have his way. He had started to drift off to sleep when he was roughly pulled out of bed. He was very angry with this, no one, not even mom and dad would dare disturb him while he slept. He swung his fist at the nearest object and heard a sickening crack that was accompanied with a large amount of pain in his knuckles. He opened his eyes in shock and saw that he had hit a large stone statue that appeared to be holding the front of his shirt. Standing next to him was the wizarding freak that had brought him here in the first place. If Dudley had gone to hogwarts he would have known from the look on Severus' face that he was in for it. As it was he was largely ignorant of what any look on Snapes face meant, all he knew was that he had been disturbed from his sleep by this freak and that made him cranky.

"Do you bloody well mind, freak. I was having a rest before dinner. Now put me down this instant and I'll forget it ever happened."

Dudley thought that he had argued his point rather well and thoroughly expected to be put down and given an apology. What he did not expect was for the big nosed freak to slap him, rather hard, across the face. He brought his face close to Dudley's and spoke in a very threatening voice.

"I told you to behave yourself, I told you to help Matron look after your cousin. I am not a man who speaks to hear my own voice. Nor do I condone ignorance and laziness. When I give an order I expect that order to be obeyed. You had a very cushy life from what I have seen. Your every whim must have been catered to since birth. Well those days are officially over. You will work harder than you have ever had to before, and now instead of the servants quarters where you would have been rather comfortable, you will now reside in the boot cupboard until I say otherwise. You will not have any desserts while you are here and you can forget about anything lavish for any meal. Your meals will consist of gruel for breakfast, toast and peas for lunch and broth for dinner. The only thing that you will be allowed for drinks will be water. You will be expected to get up at seven o'clock sharp and you will spend the day doing chores, you will not be allowed to go back to the cupboard until eight o'clock in the evening and after eight o'clock you will stay in the cupboard until seven o'clock the next day. Is all of this perfectly clear to you?"

Dudley glared at him. "How dare you order me around. If you want someone to do chores and such then you can use my cousin, he's used to living like that. He deserves it too; the bloody freak has no right to live like regular people. He's abnormal, now put me down this instant."

The freak didn't answer; instead he turned around and walked out the door, Dudley being dragged along by the statue behind him.

Severus Snape was greatly perturbed. No, he was flaming well pissed off. He didn't know which goaded him more, the sheer arrogance of the boy who believed that the world revolved around him, or the fact that he would have to take another elf off duty to help care for his 'son' and expend a rather large amount of magic to make a statue guardian follow the ignorant swot to make him do his chores. When they reached the boot cupboard the other elves had put up a cot in there and had put some sheets on it. He had the statue unceremoniously throw the boy into the small space and quickly locked the door. He turned to the statue that he had designated the muggles guard.

"He is not to leave the room except to relieve himself, and he will not be getting any supper tonight."

He turned and walked swiftly away; he had only gotten a few feet from the boot cupboard when the muggle began to make a terrible fuss.

"No, you can't do this to me. I have rights you know, I read all about them at school. This is against the law; I'm a human. You can't do this to me. It's not fair-"

"Oh do shut up. Something I guess that no one told you was that life is never fair."

With that Severus turned and strode away to his personal lab. He had some research to do if he was going to return his 'son' to sanity.

The next week was uneventful. At seven o'clock Dudley would wake up and eat gruel, he would then be given a list of mind numbingly boring chores to do. He would spend the day doing them with only one break at noon. He would then have his supper and go directly to bed. Severus Snape meanwhile was running a whole battery of tests on his 'son'. One of which was a paternity test. It confirmed that Harry was indeed his son as well as Lily's and James. He was still no closer to finding the cause of Harry's insanity, but he did know that potions, drugs, curses, hexes, and chemical imbalances in the brain did not cause it. It was a mystery; by all rights the boy should be sane and running around making his life, but mostly his cousins life, miserable. Why he wasn't was a mystery. There were days when he seemed almost sane. Then there were days when he was so far gone that it seemed as though he would never come back. Today was a good day. He seemed cognizant. He was able to feed himself and communicate using hand signals and broken sentences. Severus was surprised by how relived he felt on the good days, but not as much as by how devastated he was on the bad days.

"Morning Harry."

Small smile and waved slightly.

"Can you talk today?"

"…Little bit…" Hand gesture showing less than half an inch between forefinger and thumb.

"Did you dream last Night?"

"Bit… yeah"

"Anything important?"

"Vold-ee-more"

"Can you tell me more or is it too difficult?"

"Too-diff-cult"

"All right. Lilgilimens." They had gotten into a habit where if Harry had a dream Snape would ask if he could tell him about it. Harry almost always said no because of the effort it took to string two syllables together, let alone sentences. His dream last night had been about the dark lords increasing paranoia over a spy being in the ranks of the death eaters. There were few in the room besides him. There had been Lucius, who had escaped within the first few days of summer, Draco and McNair. Aside from that there was nothing illuminating. The dark lord was always paranoid, had always been paranoid. Not to mention as mad as a hatter. It was one of the many reasons that he had left the dark lords side. Nothing ideological, just plain sense; If a captain sees an iceberg and steers the ship over to chill his martini you don't wait around to see what will happen.

"All right, that will be enough. Rest and hope for a miracle because I'm running out of ideas. You will be glad to know that your friends have decided to spend the rest of the summer with us. They should be arriving in a few days. Have as good a day as you can."

With that he left the room and went to his special study. It was the one place in this house that he could go to Hogwarts by floo. Not his favorite way to travel but safer than others. He had a special meeting to attend in his quarters.

When he arrived a few seconds later he noted that he was rather early. He thought he heard a loud thump behind him. When he turned to look he saw that Harry's fat slob of a cousin had followed him.

"Aren't you supposed to be back at the manor polishing the silverware?"

"Yeah well I've had it up to here with your rules, and you and I are going to get some things straight. First of all I am not your servant. Secondly-"

"I really don't have the time for this, you will go back to the manor now, you will return to your duties, and you will not harass me in the future."

"No, I have a say and I will say it-"

"I'm amazed that you are capable of saying anything, but if you do not leave promptly then the people that I am expecting will come here and kill you."

"That's bull" Suddenly there came a loud rumbling from the fireplace as his guests began to arrive. It was only two people that he was worried about but he hoped that they would not notice the great quivering lump that he had to forcibly lock in a closet. He then turned around just in time to see Lucius, McNair and Draco step out of the fireplace.

"Hello Lucius. I must say that when I heard that you had escaped from Azkaban I was surprised."

"But not as surprised as the guards were." Came the smooth reply. "I will get to the point old friend. There is a traitor in our midst, more than one most likely, and we need you to brew a batch of veritaserum. We will also need a batch of stone Death potion for a pet project of mine.Draco myself and McNair were enlisted to find this traitor, we would have gotten you as well but your position in Dumbledore's ranks makes you valuable and we do not wish to compromise your position. Now then how long will it take to brew it?"

"A month at least Lucius. I would have had some already but the teacher that they had forced upon us last year used it all in a vain attempt to interrogate Potter on the where abouts of Sirius Black."

"Good Lord, she didn't use the entire bottle did she?"

"Yes she did, all of it. All at once. In one cup of tea."

"Too bad he didn't die of an overdose."

"Actually he didn't drink it. I found the tea upon closer inspection of a vase of dead flowers. Even if I had fetched it the organic matter from the flowers would have rendered it useless."

"Stupid bint. Well at least you can make more."

"Yes, of course I can."

"And how long for the stone death?"

"That will take closer to three months due to the finicky nature of it."

"Very well, I leave it in your capable hands."

With that they turned to leave when there came a crashing sound from the closet that Dudley had been locked into. He had kicked the door down.  
Severus felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he saw the look of pure delight on the boys face. He looked as though Christmas had come early.

"You want to kill Harry? That's great because I can't stand the prat. I know where he is too."

"Who is that Severus?"

"Some twisted and deranged squib who thinks he's Potter's cousin."

"Really?" Lucius stepped forward and took a better look at the boy. Dudley meanwhile was utterly oblivious to the danger he had put himself in.

"Look, I'll cut you a deal, I'll take you to him, if you help me find my parents. Sounds good don't it."

Lucius turned to look at Severus

" Why you know just the perfect present to cheer me up Severus. A Squib to torture. Crucio!"

Severus had to admit that he was mildly amused by the antics of the muggle when he felt the pain. It wasn't like he didn't warn him. Soon McNair took up the game. Severus strode over to Draco while the others amused themselves.

"How long should we give them?" Draco whispered.

"Another two minutes at least, I've tried to teach that stupid lump not to piss me off but he doesn't learn."

"Oh well." They waited until Lucius and McNair got tired of the screams then they were just about to kill him when Draco bound and gagged them and Severus obliviated their memories. He then stunned them. "I trust that you can take the stupid lump back to my manor then?"

"Your manor?"

"Yes, get in the floo say Snape Manor and you'll be there. I'll be there right away. I just have to take care of these two."

A look of comprehension dawned on Draco's face. He didn't seem upset by what had to be done. As Snape watched the boy leave with the insufferable prat he congratulated himself on his wisdom of unofficially adopting the boy. Clever, resourceful and largely ignored by his parents he had been easy to bond with. He had needed a parent and Severus had provided that. Lucius was so oblivious when it came to his own son that he had no doubt that Draco had never established a bond with him. As for his mother, she treated him like a decoration, or a pet. Important enough to be fussed over when company arrives but not enough to be given attention on a daily bases. Draco would never miss them, well no more than was his duty to at any rate. With that thought in mind Severus took the two stunned and memory-less men to the floo and traveled with them to the 'secret' headquarters of the dark lord. When he got there he summoned two of the death eaters to him.

"Help me carry them won't you?" He asked them. He then handed them over to the rather larger men and lead the way to the dark lords tent. He rapped politely on the pole outside and waited until he was invited in.

"Why Severus, My loyal Potions master, what brings you to our rather humble lodgings?"

"The traitors, who you have been worried about for sometime, my lord. I was just on my way back to my dungeons after a lengthy interview with Dumbledore when I saw the two men whom you charged with finding the traitors on their way to him. I saw them but they did not see me. I was surprised at their guile but did not hesitate to act when young Draco Malfoy bound and gagged them, I obliviated them and stunned them. Draco is at my place now as he no longer feels he is safe at home."

"He feels safer at the moldy old shack you live in?"

"Yes, well, it is not without its charm and it is very well protected. I prefer function to ostentation. So I give you the traitors to do with as you see fit."

"My highest praise to you Severus. It would be best if you did not see what is to happen, after all can't have that old fool coming across anything by accident. But you will wait a moment, there is something I need to talk to you about."

So Severus waited while the dark lord took his time with the 'traitors'. It took less time than he would have thought. Soon he got to witness the dead bodies being dragged out and transfigured into dragon fertilizer. It was rather amusing to think that the two prats would be more useful in death than in life. Then he was summoned back in.

"The old fool, do you think he'll miss them?"

"Yes, but he won't say anything, won't let on that he lost his spies. He'd rather make you fear that you made a mistake. He will try to recruit others, I'll try to find out whom, but I can't be obvious about it. He might start to suspect me more than he does."

"Good, but I've got more important things to discuss right now. You may have noted that the years of living without a body have taken a toll on me. It has affected my sanity somewhat"

_What sanity?_ Severus wisely kept this comment to himself.

"Some days are better than others. Today I can pass for normal, tomorrow who knows. My only consolation is that it's affecting that wretched Potter boy as well. But as amusing as it is I need a potion to return my sanity before it kills me."

"Of course my lord, I'll get to work on it. I will need to know what it originates from however."

"A simple muggle disease called syphilis. I got it from some filthy Mudblood whore decades ago. I've been able to hold it in check with some of my more creative spells but that was while I was in my original body."

"Very well, I'll get to work on the problem at hand then."

When Severus apparated back to his manor he couldn't help but grin. When Draco asked what had cause such happiness all Severus could say was "The Great lord venereal disease has no fucking clue what he has just handed to me." After that he lead a very confused Draco to the guest room and then began working in his lab.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer; Don't own Harry Potter, not making money off this either. So there

The Third Parent; Chapter Four

The next two days were a marked improvement for Severus and his search for a way to return Harry to sanity. Now that he knew the source it was easy to formulate a hypothesis. Since the dark lords sanity, or insanity, was affecting Harry some sort of artificial block had to be made until Harry mastered occlumencey. Severus searched high and low and found something that could have been useful. It was a temporary mental shield that a parent could form with their child by joining their two minds. That way Harry would have supposedly been protected while Severus could have taught him how to block his own mind. Unfortunately when the time came to try it the spell backfired. Everything had been done right and Harry had not resisted, but the spell failed. What the reason was Severus did not know. But he had come across an alternative to the spell. It was a potion that was often used by them to treat what muggles called mental disorders. It was specifically designed for multiple personalities. He looked for other solutions but found none. He did not mind the potion, as there were no horrible side affects and it was none addictive, however it was never good to trust your well being to something you had to take every twenty-four hours. But it was the only solution he had. Dudley being able to follow him via floo was still a mystery. One that he intended to solve soon. He had told Draco everything that had happened that summer and while he was not especially pleased to know that Harry Potter was in the same house as him he agreed to get along as well as he could to keep an eye on him. Who knows, maybe they would through some miracle find enough common ground to not actively try to kill each other. In order to keep a better watch on Harry Draco would be moved into the same room the day that Ron, the rest of the Weasleys and miss granger came along. Percy wouldn't be joining them, as he still didn't consider himself a Weasley.

"I wonder if the berk considers himself a weatherby." Severus asked himself as he landed to pick up his 'guests'. Really the only reason he had them come along was to keep his son from doing anything rash. "Perhaps he considers himself a Fudge. My won't Coreena be pleased to have competition for Cornelius' affections."

He forced himself to be pleasant, at least as pleasant as he could be, when the Weasleys and Granger all clambered in. It was not easy considering that the youngest Weasley and only girl was practically sitting on his lap. She seemed to pick up on this and shifted so that she was closer to Granger. Severus almost sighed with relief, but before he could he found his lap full of Fred, or was it George.

"Mr. Weasley, unless you are particularly attracted to older men who happen to have rather large noses and greasy hair I would advise you to find some other lap to occupy. Might I suggest your twins." He followed this with the special glare that he had developed for them.

"And what are you going to do about it, you cross dressing geisha boy from hell. Take points from Gryffindor?"

"As you are no longer going to school that would not be feasible, however now that you aren't my student I can now do many more things. Things that you would not especially like, all of them perfectly legal."

"Yeah right, like what."

Well, ask a stupid question. Of course he knew that normally he would feel offended if the person he'd been kissing had screamed bloody murder and ran as far as possible, but considering that this was one of the infamous Weasley twins he'd live with it. Besides it got the boy off his lap. Not that he would say no to a bit of mocking him.

"You are such a tease. Really, you shouldn't lead me on so."

"Bleargh, ugh, disgusting. Never, ever do that to me again. That was gross, now I've got Slytherin cooties. Oh god, someone scrub my mouth with soap."

"Oh grow up you rapidly aging adolescent twerp. At least I'm not a homophobe."

"I'm not a homophobe, I just think everything they do is gross and yucky. No wonder you don't have any kids. You don't screw birds."

"Actually I do. I believe that would make me bi."

There was complete silence in the coach for a few minutes until Ginny spoke

"Well, I for one have learned far too much of a subject that I had never wanted to know existed. Namely what Snape will screw. George, stay away from him for the rest of the summer I don't think I can handle any more revelations on Snapes life."

"But he started it."

"And if you continue it you'll lose it when you so wanted to give it to Katie Bell."

George glared at his sister but didn't say a word. They traveled the rest of the way with the Weasleys talking amongst themselves. Of course Severus couldn't help getting one last jab at the twin. When George was glaring at him and no one else was looking he slowly and deliberately licked his lips. The boy shuddered and turned away from him. Snape smirked in mild amusement.

Draco had been moved into the room with Harry earlier that day. As Severus had told him the boy's recent bout of temporary insanity had taken its toll. On the days when he had been worse off he had been unable to keep anything down. Add to that the years of neglect from his aunt and uncle and it was no wonder that Snape had insisted on having him take several different potions now that he could keep things down. There was of course the potion to keep him sane. Then there was a potion that acted as a nutritional supplement, one for the resultant physical dwarfism that accompanied starvation and neglect as well as a counter acting potion for any mental retardation that usually came from the aforementioned abuse, and one to awaken any latent magical talent that might yet be dormant because of the kind of life he had lived. Abuse couldn't get rid of magic but it could make it difficult for the user to summon it. If Draco didn't know that Severus loved to make potions he'd swear that he had a father/son bond with Harry St. bloody Potter already. Draco shook his head in annoyance with himself. He was here to try to help Potter. It would not do to keep those thoughts circulating. Besides, despite the fact that he hated Potter they were on the same side. Like Severus had told him, you stick with the side that will win. All the death eaters had were a bunch of over large stupid creatures and servants with a rotting corpse leading them. It wasn't like the Dementors would stay on their side if they began to lose. Not to mention the servants were either too crazy too stupid too cowardly or too subservient to be of any use. They had Dumbledore, a bunch of Aurors, the werewolves, amazingly enough. Centaurs and Goblins were also in their ranks. Somehow Dumbledore had talked them into joining their side. Add to that that there were experienced dragon handlers and odds favoured them. Of course that was until you figured in the ministry. With allies like them who needed enemies?

Harry had been unusually quiet all day; Draco knew that it wasn't about the living arrangements because he hadn't made a fuss. Of course considering the state he was in he doubted Harry would make a fuss if the hottest woman or man, Draco was not certain about his preference, were to walk in naked and give him a lap dance.

_Bugger all; I'm going to ask aren't I?_

Of course you are. Snape did take care of you when your parents were too busy to notice your existence and he's Snapes actual son so you are kind of like brothers, just not actual brothers.

"All right potter, what's wrong?" Draco asked as he sat down on the bed beside said boy who lived. He looked up startled to see Draco.

"Nothing much really."

"Come off it Potter. Snapes looked after me since I can remember; now apparently you're genetically related to him. As far as I'm concerned we're brothers. I don't like you but how many brothers, outside of the Weasleys, do? What's wrong?"

Potter sighed.

"How do I tell them? Like I mean I know how Hermione will react. She'll be startled but okay with it. Ginny won't care. But Ron will… I don't know. He'll be pissed off at Snape, then me, then both of us. I know he will."

"So why tell him? If he's going to get pissed off because you got one parent who's still alive."

"He's my friend."

"So why do you think he'll be pissed off?"

"Well you know how pissed off he was in fourth year? Well let's just say that it's because he'll be reminded of all the things I have that he wants."

"So what about all the things he has that you want? I bet there's seven at least."

" He doesn't notice that."

"So why is he your friend?"

"…"

"Don't worry about it. Tell the girls and wait a while to tell him. By the way Potter you will remember to wash your hair right? Snapes like a father to me but I wish he'd remember that wonderful invention called soap and water sometime."

"Well we could introduce them."

"Really sounds like fun."

"Yeah but I don't think I'd be much help."

"How'd you mean?"

"Well I can barely walk around and besides, genetically related or not I'd be the one he'd hex into oblivion, you he'd only yell at."

"True. Course that's better than what he's done to that fat lump of a cousin of yours. He's keeping him locked in the boot cupboard." Harry snorted and tried to keep from smiling.

"Talk about ironic. Bet the fat lump never saw himself being forced to live like his parents had forced me to live."

"You've got to be joking. What the hell'd you do to deserve it?"

"I showed up on their doorstep shortly after I was orphaned."

"…Bastards…" Harry shrugged and stared out the window.

"So what did he do?"

"He managed to follow Snape by floo to his meeting with father and Mcnair. Damn near got himself killed."

"How'd he do that? I thought that only witches and wizards could travel like that."

"Well yes, that's why we're so curious as to how he did it. Obviously if he were magical he'd have gone to one of the schools for witchcraft and wizardry instead of that old mouldy muggle school he brags about."

"Don't be too sure. His mom and dad would never allow it. It was bad enough that I was a freak they would die before they let ickle diddykins become one."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but when they destroyed my letters more just kept coming, wouldn't the same happen with Dudley?"

"No, your parents specifically stated that they wanted you to study magic at Hogwarts before they died. If Dudley's parents destroyed his first letter without telling him there would have been no more."

"So the great fat git is a wizard."

"That would explain it. Which house do you expect he'd have been in?"

"Too stupid to be in Ravenclaw, not hardworking or loyal enough to be in Hufflepuff, Too cowardly to be in Gryffindor. Not reckless enough either. About the only thing he has in common with Slytherins is that he's ambitious. It only extends to getting his way all the time but it's still ambition."

"I don't think I'd like him much."

"Uh, Malfoy, no one would like him. The only people who like him are those who like bullies and that's only so they can watch and have fun while he beats people who are smaller."

"What a jackass, and that's coming from me."

"And that's bad when someone is sorotten you call them a jackass."

Severus breathed a sigh of relief when they set down outside the manor. Of course the second they set down George ran for freedom like his life depended on it. Not very pleasant to be locked in a small confine where someone who happened to kiss you is, Especially if you don't happen to like that someone.

"Slow down, boy, unless you want the wards to kill you." Severus yelled after him. George stopped and waited for everyone to catch up, but he still managed to stay as far as possible from Severus.

"Oh don't flatter yourself, you don't have anything that I want anyway." Snape smirked at the flush that was creeping up the boy's neck. They made their way quietly up to the imposing mansion. Once inside Matron greeted them.

"Hello Matron. Please escort Misters Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George Weasley to their rooms. I'll handle the rest."

"Yes Master Snape." Without another word she led the way for the older Weasley brothers.

"I'll show the rest of you to your rooms. Mr. Ronald Weasley you'll be staying with Mr. Potter. Mr. Malfoy also is sharing the room. Don't worry, I told him to keep on his best behaviour so if you don't bother him, he won't bother you. Miss Granger and Weasley, you'll be sharing a room next to them. Should all hell break loose I expect you two to either deal with it, get the elder Weasleys to deal with it, but only as an absolute last resort call me. Understood?" There were two prompt yes sirs from their direction. "Mr and Mrs Weasley would you like the second master room or one of the guest rooms?"

"Whichever one is closest to where Ron and the girls are."

"The second master room it is then. The older boys are on the lower level in several of the guest suites. Matron can show you the way. On another note, if the twins destroy anything they'll be paying for it themselves."

As Severus lead the way to their rooms he thoroughly hoped that they would have the wisdom to leave him alone for the rest of the summer and focus their attention on Harry. He wasn't used to entertaining anyone at the best of times, let alone a pack of red haired high-strung witches and wizards of clearly Scottish descent. Aside from that this clearly was not the best of times. He had just received word from McGonagall that the owl results were in and just who would be in his newt class. She just simply could not suppress a tight-lipped _smirk _of triumph when she informed him that not only did over half the bloody Slytherins fail to make the grade but Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived-to-be-a-constant-pain-in-his-backside had gotten an o along with Longbottom, Granger, and half of the bloody Gryffindors. His only consolation was that Ron did not. Ginny, however, would no doubt be in newts. She practically thrived on potions. Very odd family the Weasleys; with most pureblood families there was a theme. The Blacks were as black as their name, even Sirius despite the fact that he was with the order. The Potters were pure in every sense of the word. The Snapes were agonizingly intellectual but lazy, or they were until they were wiped out. The Malfoys were aristocratic, crafty, and resourceful. But the Weasleys, what could you say about them. There were good and bad witches and wizards, powerful, and squibs, decent hardworking ones as well as treacherously ambitious ones. About their only common denominator was that they all had red hair and hot tempers. He deposited them at their respective rooms and left them alone. God he hoped they didn't try to induct him into the Weasley family when they found out about his relationship with Harry. Nice as they were he didn't feel like being a part of a large family at the moment. He almost breathed a sigh of relief when he got to his own rooms and shut the door. He remembered that he had several things to tend to. Most important of which was finding a better solution to Harry's problem. Of course he would have to whip up a couple of big fat placebos for the dark lord, but really he knew that there was no cure, not in the later stages. In the early stages a shot of penicillin would have done it but now there was nothing for it. Too bad, really, because now he was going to die no matter what. Some diseases the magical community had found cures for, others were still a mystery with only muggle answers to them. Of course someone like the dark lord would never use anything muggle in origin which was decidedly stupid. So Severus sat down for a long peaceful night of research.

When Ron came in the room Harry was at first happy to see him. He had been trapped without any real friends all summer. Of course he knew that he would have to tell Ron about the fact that one of his parents was alive and well and happened to be their least favourite teacher at Hogwarts. Harry didn't know why that thought made his blood run cold but it did. It probably had something to do with the way he envisioned it happening. He would sit Ron down and have tea while discussing the various different Quidditch teams. Harry would try to work it in casually by saying something like 'and speaking of fouls done to seekers my father James was Knocked up by Snape who in turn impregnated my mother with the resulting fetus, so what's your take on clubbing?' Ron would wait a beat, then laugh at the joke until he realised that Harry was serious at which point he would flip out, overthrow lord Voldemort and become the next evil lord. Harry was pretty sure that the last part was pretty much a stretch of the imagination, but oh well.

"Hello Ron, how's your summer been?"

"Oh, you know the usual, clean house, try to overhear meetings, worry about you and your sanity, then find out you've shacked up with Severus bloody Snape and Draco bloody Malfoy. So how's playing house going, you pick out the drapes you want yet."

Harry was taken back by Ron's sarcasm; this was not normal. He reached out his hand towards his friend but his friend pulled away.

"What's wrong Ron, I don't know what I did wrong but I can't fix it if you don't tell me."

"Oh that's rich, all summer I've been worried for you, I've been hoping to get a letter from you but I don't hear squat."

"Ron, my uncle wouldn't allow me to write except some phoney letter saying that I was being treated well. Then I went crazy and wasn't capable of writing anything to anyone. I've only been sane for the past couple of days and I've only just gotten most of mymovements under control. I haven't been able to write so you'll just have to forgive me for not writing."

"Oh sure, I believe that, the great Harry Potter, now an invalid. That is just so typical of you Potter, to cook up some story to get attention from mom and dad. God, I just don't believe you sometimes, just leave me alone."

"Ron, What's wrong with you?"

"What? Nothings wrong with me, I just had a long talk with Percy, you know he may be a self-serving twerp but he sure was right about some things. Especially about you."

"Ron!"

"Just go away and leave me alone, prat." Ron walked to the opposite end of the room and sat down. Draco looked at him and said very quietly "Yeah, I can see why you're best mates with him."

Harry had Draco help him to the bathroom under the pretence that he needed a bath. Really all that he wanted was to sit down and cry where no one would see him.

He stayed there for a good half hour while the tears poured down his face. Draco pretended not to notice. Anytime the tears got too thick he'd wipe a washcloth over his face. Finally he got dried off and was ready to go back to the room. When they finally got there Harry noticed that the supplemental potions that Snape had given him were missing. It wasn't until further investigation of a wastebasket that he found the empty jars. The potion that kept him sane was locked in the bottom drawer of his dresser.

"Ron, what did you do to my potions?"

"Who says I did anything? Maybe it was the ferret, he could have done something while you weren't looking."

"It wasn't Draco, the potions were just fine until we left to the bathroom, then we came back out here they were gone, so what did you do?"

"None of your business."

"It actually is my business considering that I'm the one who needs them. For all you know you could have killed me by destroying them."

"Big fat fucking deal, now if you'll excuse me I'm sick of this third degree and I'm going to talk to some real friends, you know someone that you aren't."

"Funny, I was just thinking the exact same thing about you."

Ron didn't bother answering as he walked out the door. Harry sat down on the bed with a groan.

"What the fuck is wrong with him?"

"Don't know but I'd better go tell Snape what happened, you going to be okay by yourself?"

"Yeah, just fine. I mean if my other friends are in just as good a mood then I've got it made for crappiest summer ever."

"That's right, look on the bright side, I'm certain that out there is some deity that gets immense amusement from your suffering."

"Yeah, well there'd better be."

Draco left to fetch the wonderful Potions master from his den.

Ron was in a good mood while visiting the girls. After all he didn't know why Potter and him had ever been friends to begin with. He supposed the prat considered him just another lackey and hanger on to please. It didn't bother him much what he knew about Potters life, it didn't bother him much that Potter had gone temporarily insane that summer. All that mattered was that he had snubbed him, Ron, his supposed best friend by not writing him. It didn't matter that he hadn't written Harry over the summer after all he couldn't, not without those muggles getting angry, but what was stopping Harry. Not that it mattered much all that he knew was that after his meeting with Percy everything seemed so much clearer. He couldn't remember what had been said or what had happened just that he had come away from that meeting knowing that he had every right to hate Harry. He was just about to make another joke about Potter, for some reason the girls just didn't find them as funny as they ought to, when he felt a strange sensation running through his body. It was like half of him was being melted by the sun and the other half were being freeze dried. He then blacked out.

Severus Snape hated being disturbed. Especially at night when he was trying to do important things, he did make exceptions in dire emergencies but mostly he'd hex anyone who dared disturb him.

"Professor, There's been an accident."

"It had better be important Malfoy."

"Well, all of Harry's supplemental Potions are gone. We don't know how but Weasley did something to them after acting like a great git all night."

"What did he do with them?"

"We don't know and he wouldn't tell us just-"

"PROFFESSOR, PROFFESSOR!"

"I'm right here Miss Granger, you can stop the infernal yelling."

"Professor, Ron's been acting weird all summer, well since two weeks ago when Percy came along and told us off. Anyway he just came over faint just a few minutes ago. We can't wake him and he's turning green. Please you got to help."

"Fine, Malfoy, there are extra of the supplemental potions in my cabinet, best have Harry lock these up. Miss Granger you might want to run an ice cold bath in the boys bathroom."

Professor Snape left to find out what was ailing the young Weasley, although he had a good idea already.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer; Do not own, not making money

The third Parent; Chapter Five

When Severus made it to the girl's room he saw that Ron was indeed an unnatural shade of green, if he had been into interior design he would have called it electric lime and try to capture the exact shade in paint and fabric before the subject died. He did some spells to determine what was wrong with the young Weasley and found, surprise, that the idiot had drunk all of Harry's supplemental potions. When mixed together and taken in small doses it would not harm someone who was healthy. However if a person were to ingest a large amount of said potions that could be quite alarming. Fortunately it was easy enough to get rid of, all he needed was a bezoar and some aloe Vera leaves. He had had the foresight to grab them when he heard of the boys fainting spell. There might also be some need for full immersion in cold water and a small amount of blood letting. Joy, blood letting being done in the ancient halls of his families' ancestral home, well at least some of his relatives would be pleased. Severus applied the bezoar to a small cut he put on Weasleys arm and wrapped it with the aloe leaves. It should only take a few minutes to draw out enough of the potion to bring him back. Severus then dragged the boy to the washroom of the boy's bath and stripped him. He was just about to throw him in when he saw the mark on the boys arm. Not any mark, _the _mark, _the dark mark_. Severus quickly dropped him in the tub and got a house elf to ensure that the boy wouldn't drown and locked the room door behind him. He then went to round up the other Weasleys. This was not going to be a happy day for Molly and Arthur.

When Harry saw Snape drag Ron into the bathroom and start to strip him, he was not happy. Of course when he saw the skull and snake tattoo on Ron's left arm he was more than a little startled that his friend had become a death eater. He was so bloody surprised he didn't know if he should shit or go blind. Of course Severus was finished with Ron by the time he had processed this information and was walking towards him.

"Draco, Harry, pack your things you're staying in my quarters until we get to the bottom of this. Oh, never mind, I'll pack for you." Severus made a sweeping motion over the room and their things landed neatly in their respective trunks. Snape then shrunk them and stored them in his pocket. "Come on, we're leaving." Then without a backwards glance he hustled them out of the room and sealed it shut behind them. He summoned an elf to him and had him round up the rest of the house before he led Harry and Draco to his apartments. He gave them a rather nicely done room with a giant bed in the middle of it.

"There is only room for two beds in these apartments, and I don't suggest a solution with either one of you winding up in my bed. This bed in here is the only one that there is room for in this area. So either resign yourself to being bedfellows or to one of you two sleeping on the floor. It is up to you but no casualties from disagreements. Now I'm going to meet with the family Weasley to see what their take on this whole fiasco is. I'll see the two of you later."

They sat on the giant bed in silence until Draco turned to Harry.

"Right, you take the left side I'll take the right, and whatever happens in here stays in here."

"Sounds good to me, think they'll find out why Ron did it, you know become a Death Eater?"

"Don't know. Harry, do you snore?"

"I don't know, no ones ever told me. I do have a tendency to flail around though."

"Can you get yourself ready for bed?"

"Sure."

Severus Snape had Matron Round up the boys from the guest suites and take them to their parent's room. They were all surly looking and did not appear happy with him. Yet somehow Severus was sure he'd find the strength to carry on. He waited until they had all made themselves comfortable before he dropped the bomb that would ruin their evening.

"Earlier this evening Miss Granger told me that Mr. Ron Weasley had had a fainting spell. I deduced that this was caused by him drinking all of the supplemental potions that I had given Mr. Potter in order to counteract some of the results of being temporarily insane as well as abused most of his life. Taken in small quantities they are harmless, but there was almost a full bottle of each. So I had to withdraw some potion from his arm using a bezoar and aloe leaves. I then had immersed him in a tub full of cold water to help bring him back to consciousness. While doing this I noticed that he had the Dark Mark on his left forearm. This would be the relatively insignificant reason for me to have the lot of you woken up and dragged out of bed at this time of night. Now what are your thoughts and or comments on this innocuous discovery?"

"Ron's a Death Eater?" One of the twins blurted out.

"No way. He couldn't be!" That was the other twin.

"But why would he, it doesn't make any sense. Percy has the right personality for it, sorry mom but he does, why Ron? How could he possibly be a death eater?" Ah yes, Bill. He asked the technically smart question, there was no way he'd let on though.

"That is what I wish to know as well. If there had been a marking I would have been present. The last one was two days before the end of June last year. There wasn't one this year. And when that last one occurred there was no one that was going to hogwarts. As a matter of fact there are no death eaters at hogwarts. So how did he get that mark on his arm when there has been no marking this year and he was not present at the one last year?"

"Bad choice at the tattoo parlour maybe?" It was one of the twins again.

"No, they do not sell any tattoos like that in the wizarding world, and no mere muggle instrument could capture the dark mark so precisely. What other possibilities are there?"

"Oh my gosh, Percy's visit. He came to the burrow earlier in the summer, like right after school, and told everyone to shove it." Ginny was quite a font of information when she wanted to be. "When he was done Ron followed him outside to tell him off and he was out there quite a while. Professor is there anyway that someone could have taken him and given him the mark against his will?" Well, he wondered who would think of this possibility first, he thought that it would be Hermione.

"No, he couldn't be given the mark against his will. He could have been force to take a ghost mark of it. A ghost mark is very similar to the original mark except that it binds the persons mind and soul to the giver so that the receiver has no choice but to basically be a puppet."

"But if that were true who would have given it to him. It would have had to have been a death eater."

"Obviously, but I am unsure as to whether or not it is in fact a ghost mark. I may not have been at any of the organized and well thought out markings but that does not mean that he could not have been marked at an impromptu ceremony, as that would have made it difficult for anyone to know that he's a death eater, and therefore make him the perfect sleeper agent to kill Potter."

"But if that were true then why would he try to alienate Harry? It would work against him if he were to push his target away."

"True but we can never be too careful when we see someone with a rather fetching tattoo that happens to incorporate a skull and a snake."

"Is there anyway to tell if it's a ghost mark and not the real deal?"

"Yes, but it is time consuming and in order to destroy the ghost mark we would have to have an idea who it was that cast the mark in the first place."

"Well, let's just assume that it is a ghost mark as I can't see Ron doing this sort of thing. Now all we have to do is make a list of known death eaters who have had the time and the access to Ron to do this to him."

"That's Brilliant Hermione-"

"There's just one problem though-"

"Namely who, in the death eater community-"

"Hasn't had access to Ron-"

"What with the ministry of magic last year-"

"Barty Jr the year before-"

"Not to mention Pettigrew before that-"

"And the Defence against the dark arts teacher in his first year-"

"You know, the one with You-Know-Who on his head."

"See where there might be a problem?"

"Fine lets just start with Professor Snape and work our way back from people who have been seen with Ron then."

"That should be good, like I mean Ron didn't start acting weird until two weeks ago, so it should have happened around then right?"

"That is quite possible; however we can't discount the possibility, no matter how remote, that it was Percy who did it."

"But Percy isn't a death eater."

"Well it wouldn't be the first time someone turned death eater on a good family. Look at Pettigrew, as far as almost everyone is concerned he wasn't a death eater."

"Point taken"

For the next couple of hours they deliberated as to how to deal with this rather alarming situation. It was eventually decided that Ron would remain in the sealed room he was currently occupying until they had discovered what had happened to him. He was to have no contact with anyone and the house elves would see to his food and laundry but had the permission to protect their person should they need to. Over the next couple of days Severus Snape took what time he could to find the caster of Ron's supposed ghost mark. All he needed was a mirror some of Ron's hair and to speak the person's name that was suspected while incense burned and someone else repeated the incantation. It was rather quick to discover the identity of the person. When Snape did he was shocked and dismayed. The person who cast the charm would show up in the mirror while those who did not would not. Needless to say he had no idea how to break the news to the Weasleys but at least he could get rid of the ghost mark now. It was not turning out to be a pleasant week for the Weasleys first Ron with the ghost mark and now Percy as a Death Eater. They would not be happy with this news.

Author notes; Sorry for taking so long but with college and work i've been very busy:( It will be a while for the next update too, sry:( Till then wishing you all popcorn and slushies and all things yummy:)


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Do not own, not making money

After Snape had told the Weasley family in private that one of their members was a death eater he left them alone to deal with the news by themselves. Now that he knew who the caster was he could break the ghost mark on Ron and return him to some semblance of normalcy. Of course considering that it was Ronald Weasley one could ask the question if that was such a good idea. He snorted in wry amusement. An explosive temper and the ability to go off on a tantrum at the drop of a hat, yes he could see why it was such a good idea to put him back to rights. Perhaps he'd just leave him until the beginning of the school year. No he shouldn't dawdle, the longer the boy was under the influence of the ghost mark the more of a danger he'd be to himself and others, not to mention Draco, and of course Harry. No he should do the counter spell right away and then put up with the Weasleys and their insufferable gratitude for the rest of the summer.

Harry and Draco were in the room that Snape had confined them in after they discovered the dark mark on Ron's arm. Snape had come in later to tell them that it was not an actual dark mark just a ghost mark that was on his best friends arm. Harry had gotten curious and had decided to research it. He was not allowed out of the room but there were enough books in there to make even Hermione happy. So he had gone about looking for it and had found that ghost marks are spells used to control someone regardless of how powerful their mental defences are. It would be perfect to use on someone who was immune to the imperious curse. However there was a nasty aspect to the curse that wasn't present with the imperious. The person who is afflicted not only has absolutely no control over anything they say or do, they also are completely aware of what it is that they are being made to do. So while Ron was not responsible for what he said and did he was also completely aware of everything that was done using his body.

"God, that is worse than the imperious curse," He had remarked to Draco after they had discovered what exactly the ghost mark was "This would be the worst kind of torture possible. That is probably the reason that whoever did this to Ron did it in the first place."

"At least with the imperious curse you have half a chance of fighting it off, and if you can't at least it's not like you're completely aware of what's going on."

They had waited for most of the day and night to find out if Snape had managed to remove the ghost mark from Ron. When he came back in that night he was exhausted and fell right on the bed. Harry approached him cautiously.

"Did everything go all right?"

Snapes muffled reply sounded halfway between a 'shut up' and a 'bugger off' so Harry walked back to his and Draco's bed. Draco took one look at the obviously exhausted potions master then picked up a slipper and chucked it at him. It landed on his back with a thump. Snape looked up at him and glared.

"If you value your ability to reproduce you will not do that again."

"Sorry, but we wanted to know if Ron was ok."

"Of course that numb skull is just fine, while I, on the other hand am beset by insufferably inconsiderate teenagers who find perverse pleasure in tormenting me with bunny slippers. Is that all you wanted to know Mr. Malfoy, or shall I also tell you exactly how many times your mother dressed you in a pink bonnet and dress when you were one?"

"Umm no, no that's all we needed to know. Please go back to sleep."

"No, I am now in a mood to talk all about your childhood embarrassments and now is as good a time as any so why not. After all I do have a captive audience. Where to begin. I know a recitation of all of your mothers' pet names for you when company came to call…"

"Oh god no!" both Harry and Draco said at the same time.

"Are you sure? Some of them are…Cute…?"

"Yes we are sure Professor. Please go to sleep."

"Fine but if you wake me up again I will >yawn recite them all." Snape muttered as he went too sleep.

Ron was sitting in his room that night shaking. He had done horrible things. Things he could never tell anyone about while he was under the ghost mark. Everyone thought that Percy had only made him act like an ass to his friends and family. If that were true then he would be able to face them. He'd be able to show up the next morning shame faced and repentant but still Ron. Ronald Weasley the youngest boy, the best friend of Harry Potter. What Percy had made him do was beyond the pale. Ron saw everything that had been forced on him. He closed his eyes but he still saw. He saw a young woman begging for mercy, a girl no older than Ginny with blood streaming out of her. A boy with black hair and green eyes humiliated in pain. He had caused the pain and suffering to them and so many more. He had done it. It didn't matter if it was because he wanted to or Percy wanted to. It was all his fault. He stood up and swayed on the spot. He had not touched the meal that the elves had brought him. He didn't deserve food. He stumbled to the dresser drawer and pulled out a quill and parchment. He started crying. He didn't deserve to live. He began to write.

_Dear friends and family, Professor Snape and Draco… _

It was just early light when Leda the house elf walked into the boys' room. She had come to collect the dishes, set out a new trayand clean the room before the other two came back inside. She stopped. The tray had not been touched since she had brought it up last night. The food was cold and ruined. Thinking the boy had simply not noticed the tray Leda walked around the room looking for him. She did not see him. The bathroom door was locked but there was no sound from inside. She knocked. No answer. So she knocked again. Still no answer. Leda knew that the young master would be upset to miss a meal so she went inside to give him his fresh tray and make sure he ate it. What she saw made her freeze.

Snape was in the middle of an especially good dream about grading first years when he was rudely interrupted by the high pitched scream of the house elf Leda.

"MASTER SNAPE COME QUICKLY! MASTER SNAPE!"

"ON MY BLOODY WAY SO SHUT THE HELL UP LEDA!"

Snape pulled on a house robe and grabbed his wand as he stumbled to Leda in the boys' bathroom. Snape was the first one there at the scene but he was not the only one to arrive.

The scene set molly crying and the rest of the Weasleys into a fit. Severus himself was startled by what he saw too but he could not freeze up. He had to act. He had to do something.

Harry stood still with shock as he saw his best friend in a tub of water with his wrists and throat slashed open.

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What do you think, should Ron live or die? R&R 


	8. Chapter 8

Not again

Severus Snape Moved as fast as he could to the boy in the tub. He bound his wrists tightly with rags that he tore from his bathrobe himself. He later would wonder how he managed to do that to his favourite robe without hesitating. He then paid attention to the boys' throat. Here was a relief, the cut hadn't been deep enough to cut the jugular, just make an awful mess. He healed it quickly with one of the many healing spells he knew and could perform perfectly. It would be a miracle if the boy was still alive, or even managed to live despite all of his efforts.

"Arthur, I need your help here."

He waited but when no response came he lost his patience, what little of it there was to be had, "Arthur! Here! Now!" That got Mr. Weasleys attention quickly. He came forward as if in a daze.

"Is he alive?"

"He won't be for long if you insist on meandering along in a daze! I need you here and now, so wake up!"

That brought him out of his stupor, for the moment.

"Here we have to move him someplace warm, the shock will be setting in soon. Fred! George! Go and boil some water, we'll need all the warm compresses we can get. Matron!"

"Yes master Snape."

"Get me blood replenishing potion, and a jar of skin sealing solution."

"Yes master Snape."

Harry watched as Snape and Arthur took his friend out of the room and down the hall he didn't follow. He didn't know what he could do. He wandered around the room for a few minutes feeling helpless. His friend was as good as dead and he couldn't help him. He sat down on the bed and fiddled with the coverlet. What was there to do? Harry looked up at the bathroom with its door ajar. There was blood everywhere.

"Gotta clean; everything must be clean." Harry began muttering to himself as he gathered the cleaning supplies. He had to clean it before they came home and saw the mess he knew he was responsible for.

Molly Weasley followed Snape and Arthur to the warm sitting room where she did what she could while she waited. She brought them warmed blankets for Ron, hot compresses for his forehead, elevated his feet. She even cleaned the blood off his face after she changed him into warm clean pyjamas. She did everything she could think of to do. Now all there was left was to sit and wait and hope. She noticed the time, it was almost noon. She slowly got up and walked to the kitchens. She didn't see the elves there or hear their protests as she began cooking a large meal for her family. Her boys had always been such healthy eaters. Not a crumb would go to waste.

Fred and George sat in the hall after having been pushed out by Snape and their father.

They were at a complete loss of what to do. They sat and stared. They looked at their half invented jokes that they just couldn't get the energy to fully invent for some reason.

Fred looked at one of their fake wands.

"Ron he always…"

"…Loved those. He thought they were a blast."

They looked at each other. Would Ron still be around to enjoy them?

Ginny sat in the corner all day and cried. She didn't speak to anyone, what was there to say except that one of her brothers tried to kill himself. Hermione held her Hoping Ron would be all right. She swore that if he was she'd ask him out.

Bill and Charlie Weasley kept watch over Ron as Arthur helped Snape care for him. They didn't talk, afraid that to do so would be to break the spell or enchantment that would mean the difference between life and death for Ron. Snape worked without talking.

Severus Snape worked on the boy for several hours without a break. He had to get him stabilized before they could move him to st.Mungos. He had finally managed to get him to the point where it would be safe for him to be moved by port key. He had Matron Contact the Medics and tell them what was going on. They came in and took over for him. He sat back and caught his breath. One of the medics looked at him and said something like good work or something. Snape couldn't tell. He was too busy catching his breath. It wasn't everyday that someone tried to commit suicide in the tub. Snape watched as the healers took first Ron then the family Weasley through to St. Mungos. He breathed out some until he recalled that Harry hadn't been with them. Snape went looking through the house until he found him in the same bathroom that Ron had tried to kill himself in. He was on his knees scrubbing.

He had cleaned everything till it sparkled and still he could see the blood. It was everywhere. He heard someone come into the room, he dared not look up. He knew that he had been bad and would get punished. He scrubbed harder. His knuckles were bleeding, and still he scrubbed. Then someone sat down beside him and pulled the scrub brush out of his hands. Then he felt himself being pulled back gently. He was being hugged. He couldn't help it, he started to cry. He finally got enough nerve to ask the question he'd been dreading.

"Is he ok?"

'He's at st.Mungos. They'll do their best."

Harry just sat there until Snape picked him up and took him to his room.

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Well what do ya think? Does he live or die? R and R anyway:)

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	9. Chapter 9

Discalimer: do not own, not making money

Sorry about the shortness but i am sick and i have a ton of work to do. Anyone who says research papers are fun arecrazy. Hopefully the next one will be longer.

It had been twenty four hours since Severus had found Ronald Weasley in the tub with his wrists slashed open. The staff at st. Mungos had worked around the clock and had finally been able to move him to the intensive care unit of the hospital, although he was still in a coma they expected him to recover in due time with plenty of rest. Severus had brought Harry to visit Ron with the other Weasleys as they sat and kept watch over him. It was largely a silent vigil because no one had quite been able to accept the fact that Ron had just tried to kill himself. According to the healers the slashes on his wrists were quite deep, he had clearly meant to die, not just try to get attention. The only reason for the slash to the throat being so shallow was due to his wrists being too weak to properly cut as he had slashed them first. They sat by his bed and watched him breath, just glad that he was alive, but questioning why he had tried to kill himself. Severus had his suspicions but he wouldn't bring it up with the rest of the family. He had seen what those who happened to be death eater material would force those under the imperious to do. The thought of what one could do to his own brother with a ghost mark would be appalling. Great, as if he didn't have enough to worry about now he had a teenager who was suicidal. Of course since it was a muggle art and he was the head of a supremely pureblood house and had a mysterious past everyone knew that he was just the sort to take lessons in psychology and therefore was the only one who could deal with a suicidal teen. Who ever had let his little hobby of reading up on psychology slip was going to pay dearly. Severus shifted slightly. Much to his annoyance and general dislike his 'son' Harry had had to sit on his lap. The other chairs had been taken and he didn't think that the boy would be able to stand for hours on end. He breathed deeply, he could smell Harry. He had the same smell as his father had had, only with more musk and a sharp tang like he had. He shook his head as he found himself looking for similarities in a boy he had, until very recently, loathed with all of his heart. He had to stop finding reasons to look for any likeness of himself in the boy. It wasn't as if he could force a father son bond right away, even if he did want one. Which he was certain he didn't. He knew the boy was almost an adult so what would he need a father figure for, besides he had his own life to live, he didn't need any adorable brats running around. He sat back and waited with the others until visiting hours were over. They all trudged back to number twelve Grimmauld place where Albus had had them stay while in London.


	10. Chapter 10

Discalimer: Not mine, no money involved. Sorry for the shortness again but the darn plot bunny is mia and i've got yet more reasearch papers again.

The next several days were a blur to everyone in the Weasley family, Harry, Snape and Draco. First there had been the relief that Ron would live, of course that was tempered by the fact that he was in a coma and that they weren't sure when he'd wake up. They were sure that he would wake up though and that was more than enough for everyone to feel happy about. They would visit every day and stay by his bedside until visiting hours were up. The twins had taken to telling Ron what new joke they were inventing while molly was out. Snape had taken to finding out just what they had put in the skiving snack boxes. They were reluctant at first but when he had told him that he would never be fooled by one of them anyway and had been able to prevent a massive outbreak of nosebleed victims in the first years last year despite their best efforts and had only wanted to know so that should they be forced to endure another year of umbridge he would be able to duplicate the effect they became rather talkative. Most of the time when Mrs Weasley was out they would debate about what would be best to use in the nosebleed nougats.

They were so absorbed in the debate of this that when Ron began waking up no one noticed it. It was only when Ginny squeezed his hand and he squeezed back that anyone noticed that he was awake. Ginny yelped.

"He's awake!" Her yell was enough to attract the attention of a nearby healer who came rushing in to examine him. The healer had them go out into the hall while he did some tests on him to ensure that he was well again. It took a while but the healer finally came out and told them to go back in and say good night, as he was exhausted and would need some sleep.

"But he's done nothing but sleep!" One of the twins protested.

"He can sleep when visiting hours are over!" Came the voice of the other twin.

The healer gave them both a stern look that would allow no argument. So they said their farewells and promised to visit him again come morning. Harry finally felt as if things were changing for the better.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer not mine no money

sry about not being able to update sooner and for the length, hopefully it won't be so long next time:)

The next several weeks went by rather quickly. Harry got better and stronger. He had also grown a fair bit and was almost as tall as Ron. Ron had finally been allowed to leave the hospital and they went back to Snapes manor in the Alps. Dudley was getting grumpier by the day, he had not been allowed to eat as much as he liked of anything and certainly not of anything he liked and had to work each day. Ron and Draco had come to terms with each others presence and had managed to not attempt to murder each other. Draco had shortly realised that it was in his best interest to also befriend, or at least tolerate, the girls since the last time he had insulted Hermione at the manor he had wound up wearing a rather stylish outfit consisting of giant diapers fastened with safety pins, a frilly pink bonnet and a large rattle. Ginny had seen him and had added a baby bottle and a pink lacy top with a bib that said "ickle babykins needs a new nappykins". The twins were still laughing about it. Ron had not returned completely to normal, he was unusually quite most of the time and normally sat in the corner brooding. Harry had tried to get him interested in something, even going so far as to get Draco into a heated debate about quidditch while Ron was nearby. Draco had eventually said that the Cannons were a disgrace to the game, Harry had been certain that Ron would rush to their defence but he only stared off into space. That had worried Harry to no end, of course once Draco had realised why Harry was worried he had talked to Snape about it. Harry stayed as close to Ron as he could except when it was time for him to take his potion. He had finally been able to stop taking the potions for his height weight magic and intelligence, but he still had to take the one that blocked out Voldemort. He had gotten better at occlumencey but he was not an expert as of yet. Hermione and Ginny would try and get him to talk as well but the most that they could get from him were one word answers if they asked him a question. Eventually Snape decided that it was time for him to try a therapy session though he was loath to do so. He knew that if he didn't manage to make him the annoying bullheaded Gryffindor that he once was that he would be blamed for everything. He made sure to glare at Draco for talking him into helping the Weasley.

The day had started off badly enough; Dudley had decided to throw a giant sized temper tantrum when he saw his list of chores. He apparently thought that it was abnormally cruel to for a child to wash windows. So Snape decided that it would be a good idea to have him not only wash windows but weed the garden, trim the trees on the grounds and then retile the dining room. Dudley had not been very happy about that, but when Snape had threatened to add more work to his already overfilled day he snapped his mouth shut.

Draco found it to be rather amusing to watch Dudley work while eating his favourite snacks in front of him. Harry would have felt sorrier for Dudley if he hadn't done the exact same thing to him countless times while he was being starved by his aunt and uncle. Harry held no delusions about why Dudley had helped him; it wasn't because he had suddenly turned into a decent person it was because he felt obligated to. Draco was eating a rather sumptuous looking treacle tart very slowly while in plain view of the muggle. Dudley for his part was drooling over the tempting dessert while he was supposed to be weeding. Harry had no doubt that if it weren't for the fact that Draco could do magic Dudley would have beaten him up and stolen the dessert by now.

"Oy Draco, you might want to leave the poor small minded muggle alone. You know he won't be able to resist the tart that you're waving under his nose much longer."

"What, are you suddenly concerned for the fat lards well being now Potter?"

"No I just think that it's a waste of time and magic to hex the moron."

"I suppose you're right." Draco gave an especially annoying smirk to Dudley and then sat down under the tree with Ron and Harry. Harry had wanted a treacle tart, but Snape had refused to let him have any until he had eaten dinner. He found it both frustrating and comforting, not to mention just plain weird that Snape was acting like how he imagined a parent would act. Harry had brought and apple and a couple of oranges along for while they were outside today. He knew the main reason that Draco wanted to be outside was so that he could torment Dudley with treats. Harry had just wanted to get some fresh air and thought that the change might do Ron the world of good. He really hadn't been himself since he had gotten that ghost mark removed, but Harry had not been able to get him to talk about what had happened.


	12. Very Sorry

I apologise but I have run into some major obstacles recently and it does not appear that I will be able to work on my stories anytime soon, If you would like to take over one of my stories please e-mail me and tell me which one and I will email the story to you. I am once again very sorry for being unable to keep up my stories.


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